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You are correct, but there is very little incentive to lie. Maybe a helpful family member watered it a few times and never mentioned it. The concept does at lea
by whenchamenia 7y ago
You are correct, but there is very little incentive to lie. Maybe a helpful family member watered it a few times and never mentioned it. The concept does at least work for a few years as many sources can confirm, and the story is firmly in the plausible range imho. But in typical fashion, the data is scant and maybe contradictory.
The point on HN seems to be; the takeaway, arguing grammar/numbers/journalistic standard, and cooler-topics recently, and this has all 3. (Hyperbolic comments too, in case the /s is not autodetected by the content-bot mentality)
- onemoresoop 7y agoWhy would anyone need to water it? Am I missing something? This is sealed like other terrariums, the water recycles, it has nowhere to escape (unless the plug is poorly sealed). Probably the first time it was opened in 1972 to be watered was because the water level wasn't high enough from the beginning.
- nkrisc 7y agoBecause someone who doesn't know better might think it needs to be opened and watered.
- pvaldes 7y agoBecause biological growth increases the number of cells, and more cells need more water to survive than less cells.
- onemoresoop 7y agoInteresting thought, but in this case, simplistically put, the water, a limited resource, is the food for the cells. The population will grow until no more food is present and will reach balance in the eco-system. And the cells that die recycle back into the system
- pvaldes 7y agoAnd then the sealed garden would have a lot of dry tissue that for some reason can't be seen in the photo, or traces of fungus decay. The other option is that somebody is cleaning it even if does not water it, and in the process is inadvertently watering it If the garden is opened sometimes or the cork is loose, new water will enter by gass difussion until reaching an equilibrium. So a garden is either fully sealed, or watered. Many plants are able to drink 'mist'. Some even only drink mist in their entire life.
- nkrisc 7y agoYes, and then what happens when they don't get more water?
- pvaldes 7y agoIn this species in particular, first the leaves die, then stems shrink until a fraction of their former diameter, then split in segments and collapse. Each segment emits roots and leaves later.
- jandrese 7y agoI was wondering if the seal failed in the 70s and allowed it to dry out. So he added water and improved the seal so it wouldn't happen again.